External mirror on a motor vehicle

ABSTRACT

1 . Exterior rear view mirror of a motor vehicle  
       2.1  An exterior rear view mirror is known in the art in which cables that are guided through an opening to a door of the motor vehicle are soldered to a printed circuit board. This design has the drawback that assembly is time-consuming. The object of the invention is to design an exterior rear view mirror that is simple to mount.  
       2.2  To achieve this, the electrical connection consists of extension sections ( 6, 6′; 8 ) of the printed circuit board ( 3 ). At least one section ( 6, 6′ ) of this extension of the printed circuit board ( 3 ) is torsionally soft, such that the exterior rear view mirror ( 1 ) can be adjusted toward the motor vehicle and away therefrom.

[0001] The invention relates to an exterior rear view mirror of a motorvehicle in accordance with the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] It is known in the art to adjust exterior rear view mirrors froma position protruding from a motor vehicle in the direction toward thevehicle, for instance, to drive the vehicle through a car wash withoutdamaging the exterior mirrors.

[0003] It is also known in the art to mount a mirror in an exteriorrear-view mirror housing in such a way that the position of the mirrorcan be adjusted via an electric drive. Electric power is supplied, forinstance, via lead frame technology, in which the conductor tracks areembedded in a plastic plate. The conductors can be made, for instance,of copper.

[0004] To connect this network of copper tracks with a bus system of themotor vehicle, cables are soldered to the lead frame or the printedcircuit board. After a joint has been mounted to the housing of theexterior rear view mirror, these cables must be guided through a passagein the joint and through the mirror base that is adjacent to said joint.To connect these cables with a terminal, e.g., a plug contact, which isarranged, for instance, in a cavity inside a vehicle door, matchingconnectors must be fastened to the cable ends.

[0005] This design has the drawback that it is time-consuming to solderthe cables to the printed circuit board, to guide the cables through themirror joint and the mirror base, and to connect the cable ends with aconnector that must subsequently be inserted into a plug contact.

[0006] The object of the invention is to design an exterior rear viewmirror for a motor vehicle, which is simple to mount.

[0007] This object is attained by the features of claim 1.

[0008] In the exterior rear view mirror according to the invention, thecables to be soldered to the lead frame are replaced by an elongatedstructure that is an extension of the conductor tracks of the printedcircuit board and that can easily be guided through the joint and baseof the exterior rear view mirror.

[0009] To enable the exterior rear view mirror to be adjusted from itsoperating position to a position that is closer to the chassis of themotor vehicle, the conductor tracks serving as a cable substitute aretorsionally soft, so that the conductor tracks are sufficiently flexibleto permit the exterior rearview mirror to be adjusted.

[0010] In one advantageous embodiment, a torsionally soft design of theextension section of the printed circuit board is achieved by arrangingthe conductors in a meander shape, at least in the area of theadjustment motion of the exterior rear view mirror.

[0011] In another advantageous embodiment, the twistable conductors arewave-shaped. This design permits a reduction in the overall volume whileaffording the same torsional softness.

[0012] In another advantageous embodiment, the individual conductortracks are insulated from one another by enclosing them with aninsulating plastic, e.g., a flexible dipping varnish. In a furtheradvantageous embodiment, said insulation is provided only at thereversal points, such that the insulation applied at these pointssimultaneously acts as a spacer.

[0013] In another advantageous embodiment, the ends of the conductortracks are shaped as connectors.

[0014] Embodiments of the invention will now be described in greaterdetail, by way of example, with reference to the figures in which:

[0015]FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through an exterior rear viewmirror of a motor vehicle,

[0016]FIG. 2 is a top view of a first embodiment of an extension of aprinted circuit board, and

[0017]FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the side of a second embodimentof an extension of the printed circuit board.

[0018]FIG. 1 shows an exterior rear view mirror 1, which can be mounted,for instance to a door of a motor vehicle (not depicted). The exteriorrear view mirror 1 is provided with a housing 2, which holds a printedcircuit board or a lead frame 3. The printed circuit board 3 is providedwith conductor tracks 4 which are embedded in a plastic material 5.

[0019] A section 6, in which the conductors 4 coming from the printedcircuit board 3 are arranged in a meander shape, is connected to printedcircuit board 3 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, such that the conductors 4 inthis section 6 of printed circuit board 3 are torsionally soft. In thisprinted circuit board section 6, the exterior rear view mirror 1 canthus be folded down or rotated.

[0020] At one end 7 of the printed circuit board section 6, theconductor tracks 4 are arranged in a straight line and parallel to oneanother in a section 8. The printed circuit board section 8 is guidedthrough openings 9 and 10 formed in a joint 11 and a mirror base 12.

[0021] In the embodiment shown, the three conductor tracks 4 shown inFIG. 1 are insulated from one another by plastic 5. The free ends 13 ofthe conductor tracks 4 have no plastic 5 in the two gaps 14 and 15, suchthat the free ends 13 of the conductor tracks 4 can be used as aconnector 16. Connector 16 can be inserted into a terminal 17 designed,for instance, as a plug contact. Via terminal 17, the conductor tracks 4are linked, e.g., with a bus system of the motor vehicle.

[0022]FIG. 2 is an enlargement of the printed circuit board section 6,which clearly shows the meander-shaped course of conductors 4. In FIG.2, the conductor tracks 4 extend in sections 6 and 8 in a horizontal x-yplane.

[0023] The printed circuit board section 6′ shown in FIG. 3 isdistinguished from the printed circuit board section 6 depicted in FIG.2 in that, in addition to the end sections 18 and 19, which lie in thex-y plane, two waves or arcs 20 and 21 are formed in the z-direction.These arcs 20, 21 result in a shortening Ax in the x-direction whileaffording the same torsional softness in printed circuit board section6′ and thereby reduce the space required for printed circuit boardsection 6 in the x-direction.

1. Exterior rear view mirror for a motor vehicle, which can be adjustedfrom a position protruding from the motor vehicle to a position closerto the motor vehicle, comprising a housing to receive a mirror, whereinsaid housing encloses a printed circuit board with conductor tracksembedded in plastic, comprising a joint for adjusting the exterior rearview mirror, wherein said joint is arranged between the housing of theexterior rear view mirror and a mirror base mounted to the chassis, andcomprising an electrical connection extending from the printed circuitboard to a terminal located in the vehicle, characterized in that theelectrical connection consists of extended sections (6, 6′; 8) of theprinted circuit board (3) and that at least one section (6, 6′) of thisextension of the printed circuit board (3) is torsionally soft such thatthe exterior rear view mirror (1) can be adjusted toward the motorvehicle and away therefrom.
 2. Exterior rear view mirror as claimed inclaim 1, characterized in that the torsionally soft section (6, 6′) ofthe printed circuit board (3) comprises conductor tracks (4) that arearranged in a meander shape.
 3. Exterior rear view mirror as claimed inclaim 1 or 2, characterized in that the torsionally soft section (6) ofthe printed circuit board (3) extends in a single plane.
 4. Exteriorrear view mirror as claimed in any one of the preceding claims,characterized in that additional curvatures (20, 21) extendingperpendicularly to the meander-shaped course of the printed circuittracks (4) are provided in the torsionally soft section (6′) of theprinted circuit board (3).
 5. Exterior rear view mirror as claimed inany one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a section (8) inwhich the conductor tracks (4) extend in a straight line and parallel toone another adjoins the torsionally soft section (6, 6′) of printedcircuit board (3).
 6. Exterior rear view mirror as claimed in any one ofthe preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor tracks (4) ofsections (6, 6′; 8) of the printed circuit board (3) are insulated fromone another by a plastic material (5) over their entire length or only apart thereof.
 7. Exterior rear view mirror as claimed in any one of thepreceding claims, characterized in that plastic insulation (5) isprovided in the torsionally soft section (6, 6′) at least in the endareas (18, 19).
 8. Exterior rear view mirror as claimed in any one ofthe preceding claims, characterized in that the free ends (13) of theconductor tracks (4) function as a connector (16).